Looks To Fill Specific Niche For Small Airlines

There was much celebration in Capua, Italy Thursday as the Tecnam P2012 Traveller achieved its first flight.

Flown by Experimental Test Pilot Lorenzo De Stefano, the Tecnam P2012 performed a faultless set of maneuvers in front of a very proud Tecnam workforce.

“After a smooth take-off, I climbed to a safe height to perform our pre-planned maneuvers to check the basic behaviour of the aircraft, engine and flight controls. The aircraft responded exactly as expected. After a couple of circuits around the airfield, I landed and the Traveller stopped in a very short distance. I am really excited about the Traveller program,” said Lorenzo De Stefano.

Tecnam says the arrival of the next-generation 11 seat P2012 Traveller has been highly anticipated by many airlines, from the U.S. to Africa, Asia and Australia, who have been looking for a replacement for the many "heritage" airplanes in the FAR23/CS23 category currently in service around the world.

Professor Luigi Pascale, head of Tecnam’s Research and Design Team whose first aircraft design dates back to 1948, was especially delighted to witness this remarkable first flight on his latest aircraft design.

“Today we have witnessed the beginning of new era for Tecnam. This next- generation airplane will deliver to operators not only profits, but reliability, efficiency and off course passenger comfort. The Tecnam design team have answered all these customer needs with the P2012 Traveller. We feel we are contributing to real innovation in aviation,” said Paolo Pascale, Tecnam’s Managing Director.

The Tecnam P2012 Traveller will first see service as a passenger airplane with US based Cape Air but has been designed from the start to be a very versatile and flexible aerial platform, offering many multi role opportunities including Hydro, VIP, cargo shipping, parachuting and medevac services.

(Image provided with Techam news release)

FMI: http://p2012.tecnam.org